Introduction
In the novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, written by Khaled Hosseini, the brutality, terror, faith, and belief in the Afghani nation are expressed in deep, emotional ways. While experiencing struggles against the turbulent setting of the three decades in Afghanistan, the lives of protagonists are illuminated. The devastating wartime brings two generations of people together in this novel. In this sense, the narrative structure used by Hosseini involves separating the novel into four parts, each dedicated to a different time period and protagonist.
Discussion
In the first part, the reader becomes acquainted with the harsh reality of Afghanistan’s culture and the struggles of women and children. Readers are introduced to Mariam, the heroine of the first part, a woman who “had been born a harami,” meaning bastard child (Hosseini 41). In the beginning, Mariam is seen as a little girl who grows up with her bitter mother. However, later, in the 1970s, she married the suitor her stepmothers agreed upon (Hosseini).
The author quickly goes from one time period to another, showing the transition and hardships of the female protagonist. The young girl describes her husband as an unpleasant man with nails that were “yellow-brown, like the inside of a rotting apple, and some of the tips were curling, lifting” (Hosseini 34). The writer indicates the unfairness of being a woman in a culture where her opinion does not matter.
Soon, with the progression of the plot, the reader is exposed to the cruelty women must endure. At the end of the first part, it is seen that, in her marriage, Mariam had to “bear his scorn, his ridicule, his insults, his walking past her like she was nothing but a house cat” (Hosseini 61).
In the following part of the novel, a new plot arises, where the reader sees the maturity of another girl named Laila. Along with the new plotline, the author incorporates the Communist presence in the country and the Afghanistan war. In this part, the writer indicates another broken life, with a young woman falling in love with a man, Tariq, whom she later loses. After her house was bombed, everything Laila could see was “Darkness. A flock of stars” (Hosseini 122). This could imply the end of her old life, childhood, and transition to challenging adulthood. While these stories seem to be different, Hosseini successfully connects the plotlines, combining them in the third part.
The following third part illustrates the strength of women, their optimism, and their hopes for a better future. Here, the reader observes how Mariam helped Laila recover and how the young girl became the second wife to Rasheed, Mariam’s husband.
The author makes a transition and shows future events, with the year being 1993 and Laila giving birth to a girl, which makes Rasheed furious (Hosseini). In their later attempts to flee, they were caught, and Rasheed beat the women, which sounded “like a wooden club repeatedly slapping a side of beef” (Hosseini 172). Still, though the author illustrated the unbearable pain the women had to endure, in the end, he implies that happiness is possible, yet with certain sacrifices. In the fourth part, Laila is shown with the love of her life, Tariq, and her two children (Hosseini). The transition of Laila and her position as a schoolteacher indicates hope for the future of Kabul.
Conclusion
Hence, Hosseini separated the plot of the novel into four parts. The given approach was effective since it allowed the author to show the reader the two lives of ordinary Afghani women. While the first part shows the challenges of Mariam and her marriage to a man who abuses her, in the second part, the readers are exposed to the new line with Laila, who then becomes a part of Mariam’s family. The following part indicates that women are vulnerable in the face of patriarchy and wartime. However, in the end, the author shows that happiness is possible when Laila becomes reunited with Tariq and lives in a post-war Kabul, holding the position of a schoolteacher.
Work Cited
Hosseini, K. A Thousand Splendid Suns. Penguin Publishing Group, 2008.